A significant overall improvement in academic achievement was detected after physical activity programs compared with controls¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-31 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q3 i? The pooled overall effect of the meta-analysis showed a significant improvement in academic achievement after physical activity programs compared with controls. → Loturco 2022

Evidence¶

Loturco 2022¶

Loturco, I.; Montoya, N.P.; Ferraz, M.B.; Berbat, V.; Pereira, L.A. (2022). A Systematic Review of the Effects of Physical Activity on Specific Academic Skills of School Students. Educ. Sci. 2022, 12, 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12020134

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3

Random-effect meta-analysis pooling all 31 included studies simultaneously (pooled SMD shown in the Figure 2 forest plot). The review reports "a signiﬁcant improvement in academic performance was noticed after physical activity interventions when compared with their respective controls." No overall effect size value is printed in the text.

"In relation to the overall effect, a signiﬁcant improvement in academic performance was noticed after physical activity interventions when compared with their respective controls."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

Physical Well-Being — outcome: instruction changes it

Performance in mathematics tests significantly improved after school-based physical activity interventions compared with control groups — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Longitudinal physical activity programs have a positive effect on academic performance in preadolescent children (g = 0.26) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
Physical activity interventions in childhood show no overall benefit for executive functions or academic achievement — reports the opposite
Longitudinal physical activity programs have a positive effect on executive functions in preadolescent children (g = 0.24) — related
Classroom active breaks show no reliable effect on mathematical fluency — related
School physical activity interventions did not significantly improve language, reading, or composite academic scores compared with controls — reports the opposite
Effects of school-based physical activity on academic performance are not uniform and appear higher for mathematics skills — related
School-based physical activity programs significantly improve mathematics achievement in children and adolescents (SMD = 0.11) — a narrower finding that bears on this claim

Page metadata

Field	Value
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-31`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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